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irradiate

[ih-ray-dee-ayt, ih-ray-dee-it, -ayt] / ɪˈreɪ diˌeɪt, ɪˈreɪ di ɪt, -ˌeɪt /
VERB
illuminate
Synonyms
Antonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Eradication was possible through the sterile insect technique, which uses gamma radiation to irradiate screwworm pupae and create sterile male flies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

The NIF used indirect drive to irradiate a capsule with X-rays using about 2,000 kilojoules of laser energy.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024

Inexplicable fires first obliterate Japanese freighters and irradiate fish, a ripped-from-the-headlines echo of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident—a Japanese tuna ship showered in radioactive fallout from the Castle Bravo thermonuclear test at Bikini Atoll.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 3, 2023

According to the NRC, embrittlement occurs as a result of reactor operation when neutrons from the nuclear fuel irradiate the steel plates and welds used to construct the reactor vessel.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023

All his work since then had culminated in a factory that could irradiate two hundred tons of uranium at a time to produce a half pound of plutonium every two hundred days.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

In one of the experimental approaches, the cemented carbide rod leads the direction of fabrication while the laser directly irradiates the top of the rod.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2026

Rebecca understood that while regular radiation irradiates all the tissue it travels through, proton therapy delivers the full dose to the tumor and then it stops.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2019

The French conductor’s luminous elegance irradiates Menuhin’s intense humanity; there’s nothing else quite like it in the extensive discographies of either artist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2016

Heeger’s team irradiates the fibroblasts to prevent them from replicating during this process.

From Nature ● May 9, 2016

The science of Medicine is progressive; genius irradiates its onward march.

From Moral Principles and Medical Practice The Basis of Medical Jurisprudence by Charles Coppens

The fruit, after being harvested, must be irradiated at one of a handful of certified government facilities in India, inspected by a U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

The irradiated vessels were towed to Hunters Point, and used as the material and hardware upon which scientists tested decontamination methods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025

Sand-sized particles of irradiated nuclear fuel got into Dounreay's drainage system in the 1960s and 1970s.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025

As Bonlieu toiled away in Auckland, Warrior crew members were moving a community of cancer-stricken Marshall Islanders, ignored by the American government that had irradiated their atoll, to a new home.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025

That was not learned for several days, however, leaving enough time for the putative lessons of the irradiated mouse to sink in deeply.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

New research demonstrates that fast electronic processes can be probed by irradiating the materials with ions first.

From Science Daily ● May 17, 2024

He also appeared to propose irradiating patients' bodies with UV light, an idea dismissed by a doctor at the briefing.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2020

Researchers in China have tried irradiating peanut extracts with gamma rays to make them less allergenic.

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2016

Historical explanations included some kind of disease, or the drying up of inland seas putting stress on the dinosaur population, or  a supernova irradiating the Earth.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2014

Plastic is the new protector; we wrap the already plastic tumblers of hotels in more plastic, and seal the toilet seats like state secrets after irradiating them with ultraviolet light.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas


Vocabulary lists containing irradiate

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